PAM. 
S.  AMER, 


1 1 i r 


Missions  in  the 
Two  Americas 


Who  would  have  dreamed  fifty  years 
ago  that  in  February,  1916,  a repre- 
sentative  company  of  delegates  and 
visitors  numbering  nearly  five  hundred 
would  meet  on  the  Pacific  side  of  the 
Isthmus  of  Panama,  for  a great  Chris- 
tian Congress ! And  yet  such  was  the 
fact,  and  so  important  were  the  results 
that  their  presentation  requires  a three 
volume  report  published  in  English, 
Portuguese  and  Spanish. 

The  object  of  the  Congress  was,  first, 
to  ascertain  conditions  in  Latin-Amer- 
ica,  so  far  as  evangelization  and  Chris- 
tianity are  concerned;  second,  to  call 
special  attention  of  those  interested  in 
missionary  effort  to  Latin-America ; 
third,  to  give  all  possible  inspiration 
toward  further  evangelization  of  Latin- 
American  countries. 

The  sessions  of  the  Congress  were  fol- 
lowed up  by  conferences  held  in  vari- 
ous South  American  states,  as  well  as 
in  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico. 

From  articles  and  reports  dealing 
with  the  Congress  we  glean  further 
paragraphs  that  have  a bearing  upon 
mission  work  among  Latin-Americans. 

“The  close  of  each  morning’s  meet- 


ing  was  devoted  to  communion  and  in- 
tercession. These  services  were  led  by 
men  who  dwelt  in  the  very  presence  of 
God,  and  their  words  and  prayers  were 
so  searching  and  so  thrilling,  that  be- 
before  one  knew  it,  tears  were  stream- 
ing down  one’s  face.  Every  religious 
gathering  was  brought  face  to  face  with 
the  God-Father,  as  the  source  of  all 
strength  and  all  wisdom,  and  grace.” 

“There  are  nearly  eighty  million 
people  in  these  countries,  and  the 
greater  part  of  them  do  not  know 
Christ.” 

“There  is  imminent  peril  to  faith 
among  a large  part  of  the  people  of 
these  countries.  The  great  majority  of 
the  fifty  thousand  students  in  institu- 
tions of  higher  education  belong  to 
this  class,  and  constitute  a strong  ap- 
peal to  the  Christian  churches.  In 
nearly  all  of  these  countries,  among  the 
educated  classes,  there  is  a growing 
tendency  to  infidelity,  and  free 
thought.” 

“ ‘Christianity  Without  the  Bible’  is 
a phrase  which  sums  up  the  situation. 
It  means  a Christianity  without  moral 
ideals,  and  a Christianity  without 
Christ.  And  when  Christ  is  gone, 
where  is  salvation?” 

The  address  of  welcome  delivered 
by  Senor  LeFevre,  Minister  of  For- 
eign Affairs  in  the  Republic  of  Panama, 
showed  a warm  and  generous  spirit  of 
welcome.  “I  have  not  hesitated,”  said 
His  Excellency,  “to  accept  your  kind 
invitation  and  to  proffer  a warm  wel- 


come,  although  I am  a sincere  and 
devout  Catholic.  . . 

“The  black  man  in  our  South  has 
made  more  progress  in  the  last  fifty 
years  than  Latin-America  has  made  in 
four  centuries.”  (Bishop  Kinsolving.) 

“In  Cuzco,  the  ancient  Capital  of 
Peru,  is  a church  near  one  of  the  great 
University  halls,  on  whose  wall  is  an 
ancient  tablet  upon  which  is  engraved, 
‘Come  unto  Mary,  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I will  give 
you  rest.^  ” 

“On  the  Sunday  after  the  close  of 
the  Congress,  the  cornerstone  of  the 
fine  new  concrete  depository  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  at  the  Atlantic 
end  of  the  Canal,  was  laid.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Panama  said  to  his  people, 
‘We  must  not  receive  their  Bibles,  leaf- 
lets and  tracts.  No  such  can  be 
printed  for  use  without  the  authority  of 
the  church.  The  Protestant  ones  are 
full  of  errors  and  should  be  burned  at 
once.’  But  the  Bible  will  find  its  way 
to  the  people,  nevertheless.” 

“Of  the  slightly  over  two  and  one- 
half  million  inhabitants  in  Cuba,  all  but 
twelve  per  cent,  are  native  Cubans, 
Spanish-speaking  whites  or  blacks,  or 
mulattoes,  and  of  the  remainder  all  but 
two  per  cent,  are  Spanish  immigrants. 
Less  than  one  per  cent,  come  from  the 
United  States,  and  not  more  than  one 
per  cent,  from  the  rest  of  the  earth. 
Essentially,  therefore,  Cuba  is  as  Span- 
ish and  almost  as  Roman  Catholic  as 
Spain.  There  is  need  of  more  mission- 


aries  and  more  missionary  money. 
Towns  of  from  five  hundred  to  twenty- 
five  hundred  people  are  not  yet  minis- 
tered to  by  evangelical  Christianity. 
Cuba  plus  Porto  Rico  and  possibly, 
also,  plus  Mexico,  is  the  key  to  Latin- 
America  evangelization.’' 

“What  an  awful  thing  it  must  be  to 
be  God  and  know  all  the  need  of  the 
whole  world.”  (Bishop  Shepard.) 

“Twenty-one  missions  were  repre- 
sented at  the  Congress,  and  the  work 
was  conducted  in  three  languages.” 

“The  gospel  for  the  modern  world  is 
the  same  that  won  the  scholarly  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  and  the  slave  Onesimus.” 

“The  Congress  had  confidence 
enough  in  the  Christian  gospel  to  plant 
it  in  the  social  soul  of  Latin-America 
and  leave  to  its  own  inherent  strength 
and  light  the  task  of  disposing  of  what- 
ever error  exists  in  other  religious 
institutions  which  are  neighbor  to  it.” 

“If  America  ever  has  a word  to  say 
that  shall  be  for  the  peace  of  the  world, 
it  will  be  when  she  is  Christian  through 
and  through  from  the  top  of  Alaska  to 
the  Strait  of  Magellan.”  (Rev. 
Charles  L.  Thompson,  D.D.) 


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